Duke's decade-long domination in the NCAA tournament has come to an end. In the opening round.

Virginia Commonwealth provided one of the only nail-biters on the first day of the NCAA tournament, knocking out the Blue Devils in the first round for the first time in 11 years.

"The fact that we've gone every year since 1996 is a story in itself," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "If you're in this tournament long enough, you're going to go down. There's 260 or 270 teams that don't get into this thing. It's not our birthright each year."."

On an otherwise blowout-filled first day, which saw only two games decided by less than nine points, VCU beat Duke 79-77 — the same score that Xavier edged Brigham Young — to end the Blue Devils' consecutive run of round of 16 appearances at nine.

Eric Maynor hit a 15-foot jumper with 1.8 seconds left to give Virginia Commonwealth the upset victory Thursday night. Maynor finished with 22 points, six in the final 1:24.

"It felt like it was good," said Maynor. "And for it to go in, I said to myself, `Man, I just hit the game-winner on Duke University."'

Fittingly, it was VCU (28-6) that knocked off George Mason — the tournament's surprise team last year — in the Colonial Athletic Association championship game. Maynor sealed that 65-59 win by scoring nine of his 20 points in the final 2 minutes.

Greg Paulus scored a career-high 25 points for Duke, seeded sixth in the West Regional. Josh McRoberts added a career-high 22 points and had 12 rebounds.

Jesse Pellot-Rosa's 16-foot jumper gave VCU a 72-71 lead with 2:03 remaining. The Blue Devils (22-11) tied it three times, the last at 77 when DeMarcus Nelson went the length of the court to hit a layup with 10.3 seconds left.

Maynor took the ensuing inbounds pass, moved across center court, pulled up near the foul line and hit a perfect jumper.

Then Paulus' wild attempt from midcourt hit wide of the basket and off the backboard.

In other selected games:

WEST REGIONAL UCLA 70, Weber St. 42

At Sacramento, Calif., shaking off a terrible performance in last week's Pac-10 tournament, UCLA's Arron Afflalo had 22 points against Weber State (20-12).

Indiana 70, Gonzaga 57

At Sacramento, Roderick Wilmont scored 22 points and hit six of his team's nine 3-pointers, and the Hoosiers avenged a loss to Gonzaga last March.

David Pendergraft had 12 points for 10th-seeded Gonzaga (23-11).

SOUTH REGIONAL Ohio State 78, Cent. Connecticut 57

At Lexington, Ky., Greg Oden had 19 points and 10 rebounds in his first NCAA tournament game, and Jamar Butler scored 17 for top-seeded Ohio State.

Oden earned his 12th double-double of the season. Ron Lewis added 13 as the Buckeyes (31-3) quickly dispatched the Blue Devils (22-12).

Ohio State will play Xavier in the second round, the winner moving on to San Antonio.

Louisville 78, Stanford 58

At Lexington, playing in Rupp Arena — home to archrival Kentucky — Louisville got 16 points from both Edgar Sosa and David Padgett. Sixth-seeded Louisville bolted to a 41-13 lead in front of a highly partisan crowd.

EAST REGIONAL Georgetown 80, Belmont 55

At Winston-Salem, N.C., Jessie Sapp scored a career-high 20 points and Jeff Green added 15 to help second-seeded Georgetown.

Michigan State 61, Marquette 49

At Winston-Salem, Raymar Morgan scored eight of his 14 points during a dominating first half, and Michigan State's suffocating defense was too much for Marquette.